Andrew Carney explains how he came to write a play on 1983 and the infamous All-Ireland football final between Dublin and Galway, his thoughts on the four red cards, his broadcaster father Jim, and taking the show online with the Galway Fringe Festival.
Andrew Carney had the idea for ‘Sam, Galway and the 12 Apostles’ back in 2013, 30 years after Dublin’s season ended with the Sam Maguire Cup.
It was a final infamous for red cards that went to Brian Mullins, Ray Hazley and Kieran Duff of Dublin, with Tomás Tierney of Galway also sent to the line.
Depending on who you believe, or your viewpoint of the game, the Dubs were either the Dirty Dozen or it was a victory claimed by the 12 Apostles.
Carney was seven years of age when the game took place at Croke Park on a dark, unpleasant day that couldn’t have been more in contrast with the sunny day where Dublin had overcome Cork in the semi-final.
“I just look at the cultural context, the game itself, what less up to it, before and after. It’s a work in progress,” he explains of his one-man show on OurGame.ie.
“I’ll be going online in the Galway Fringe Festival at the end of the week. It’s an early draft — it’s part-rehearsed and part performance.
“Hopefully it’ll go well and from strength to strength.
“From a personal point of view, the role of the Sunday Game within the GAA at the time was huge,” Carney adds.
“I was very lucky to witness that first-hand with my father (Jim Carney, the first presenter of the Sunday Game), who doesn’t exactly court attention or like it.
“He was involved and I’m able to reminisce on that and the impact of the Sunday Game.
“There’s a huge amount of cultural touchstones there, and the aftermath of the game — I look to look in there the landscape of the GAA because this was the first All-Ireland since 1977 without Kerry.”
For more:
🎟️ https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sam-galway-and-the-twelve-apostles-tickets-118677306017
🌍 https://www.facebook.com/galwayfringe/
🌍 https://www.facebook.com/ranchhouseproductionstuam/
